Fortitude
by xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx
Summary: Fortitude: strength and endurance in a difficult or painful time. Because each of them had fortitude that had been crashed down to rock bottom. Hints of Percabeth, Leo/Piper, and Poseidon/Sally


_**Fortitude**_

_**A PJATO/HoO Fanfiction**_

_**©-Rick Riordan**_

_**By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx**_

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_Fo__rtitude- strength and endurance in a difficult or painful time. _

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**Annabeth Chase**

Fortitude described her whole darn life. Her life had always been difficult, rarely happy. Whether it be not being accepted by her family, or Thalia dying, or Luke betraying her, or Percy going missing. The Fates never showed compassion for the daughter of Athena.

But she'd always been labeled strong, plucky, especially by Luke and Thalia. She'd survived living on the streets for weeks, even months, and yet, she still had fortitude.

She'd been strong when Thalia was turned into a tree. It took _everything_ inside of her to keep herself from straight up breaking down and sobbing. Begging the gods to bring Thalia back.

And then when Luke betrayed her, it was like losing Thalia all over again, but worse. She'd _loved_ Luke, for the gods' sake. Not to mention the fact that she'd have to face him again. But she still kept strong, determined. She would never give up.

And so, her life took a turn for the good. She and Percy _finally_ began dating, after _four_ years. It was... magical.

But then, Hera just _had_ to take Percy, and bring him to that stupid, stupid Roman camp. She just _had_ to give them Jason—freaking—Grace, who she didn't give a crap about.

She just wanted Percy back.

On the outside, Annabeth Chase might've exhibited fortitude, but on the inside, all that endurance had come crashing down.

All because of one Seaweed Brain.

**Sally Jackson**

It wasn't just Annabeth who'd exhibited fortitude. No, there was so many other people, including Percy Jackson's mother, Sally, who'd been through so, so much, and yet, they kept strong, and they kept fighting.

Sally Jackson was a fighter.

She was sweet, kind, and determined. Three great traits exhibited in the mother of the Hero of Olympus. She'd lost her parents to a plane crash when she was just five. Sure, there were tears, many, many of them, but in the end, Sally never gave up.

She would do something that mattered to the world; she promised herself.

So, when she was in high school, the middle of her junior year to be exact, and her uncle was diagnosed with cancer, and she had to drop out of high school, her faith in herself wavered. How would she do something important to the world without a high school degree?

And when her uncle died, Sally kept strong. Sure, he would never win the best uncle award, but he was family, and family mattered to the seventeen-year-old Sally Jackson.

Then, the Fates showed compassion on the orphaned, now young adult, and she met Poseidon: Greek god of the seas. He was mesmerizing, and she enjoyed every mere minute with him. They fell in love, and before you knew it, Sally Jackson was pregnant with a demigod.

But her happily ever after didn't last forever. Sally quickly learned that a god and a mortal could never be together forever. She learned her son, whom she'd named Percy, was a major target for monsters. And she had no way to protect him.

Except for Gabe Ugliano. The single most repulsive, slimiest, disgusting man, if you could even call him that, to ever exist. Reluctantly, Poseidon let his sweet Sally marry that pig, and it all went downhill from there.

But she never gave up. She kept her fortitude.

And when her sweet, sweet Percy became a big hero, and she finally got rid of that pig, and she finally got her degree, and she finally married someone she knew she loved, everything was _perfect _in her life.

Until she got that IM from Annabeth.

_He's gone..._

And like Annabeth, her fortitude she'd kept for so long went crashing down to rock bottom.

_He's gone... Percy was gone... Her son..._

**Nico di Angelo**

He'd been a sweet, little, insignificant ten-year-old at Westover Hall. He'd always relied on Bianca, his loving older sister, as his fortitude. She was his rock, his solid foundation when things got rough.

But then she left him. She joined the Hunters of Artemis, leaving him alone and afraid. She'd gone on that _stupid_ quest for Artemis, and she hadn't come back. She'd _never_ come back.

He'd lost his fortitude right there.

He'd blamed Percy for not stopping her. After all, Percy promised to protect her, and instead, he let her _die_. He should've killed that son of Poseidon right then and there.

So, Nico ran away. He wasn't sure where he'd go, but he had to get away from everything. From camp. From being a demigod. From the Hermes Cabin. From Percy. From... the pain.

He used a mask of courage to keep everyone away. "Block them out, and you'll survive", was his motto. He longed for that fortitude to be able to press forward. He couldn't live without Bianca.

So, he tried to find Daedalus. He delved through the dark maze of the Labyrinth, searching for that old man. A soul for a soul. And on the way, he encountered the one person he hated the most. _Percy Jackson_.

But then again, he learned on the way that he wasn't mad at Percy. It wasn't his fault Bianca died. It was _Bianca_ he was mad at. He'd felt abandoned, because she'd left him. She was always his fortitude, but now she was gone.

And he searched. He searched for answers. Why couldn't he remember anything before his 10th birthday? Who was the mysterious lawyer? All those questions needed to be answered, and along the way, Nico's own fortitude began to build.

Sure, he'd betrayed Percy, but how was he supposed to know Hades would do that? And he'd broken Percy out of the dungeon, not to mention he brought Percy to the River Styx. Because it takes fortitude to defy your godly parent and rescue your cousin, who just so happens to be the prophecy kid, from a dungeon in Hades.

Yeah, Nico had fortitude, thanks to Percy and Bianca.

But the son of Hades would never forget that IM from a certain daughter of Athena.

_Nico, Percy's gone._

And his brain turned to mush, because one of the only people who actually cared about him was gone.

Just like Bianca.

So much for fortitude...

**Leo Valdez**

Because it takes fortitude to have your mother killed by a fire _you_ started, and still pull through.

He was young when it happened. Too young to understand. Once second the flames are dancing in his palm, and he's laughing joyously, and the next, his house is on fire. Consuming everything, but himself, including his mother.

He was young, but he knew that his mother was gone. There were tears, but he hid the pain. Because when you have fortitude, you don't let people see the pain.

So, Leo was moved from foster house to foster house. He never did play with his fire again, in fact, he took an oath to himself never too again. He ran away from almost every house, because he downright hated all of them. He just wanted his mother back; was that too much to ask for?

Then, he was sent to Wilderness School. He supposedly met Jason Grace, along with the beautiful Piper McLean. The three became quick friends, best friends even, and they stuck together always.

That was until Jason began having "amnesia". He remembered _nothing_ of Piper and Leo. He claimed he'd never met them in his entire life. Of course, that would hurt to hear from your best friend.

_I don't know you. I'm not supposed to be here..._

But Leo laughed it off, showing fortitude. Because laughter masks the pain.

But then, they found out there were demigods. Half god, half mortal. He was a son of Hephaestus, or Vulcan, as Jason called him. It suited him, as Hephaestus was the god of fire.

How ironic.

And when Leo went on the quest, and when Festus died, and when Khione betrayed them, he still masked the pain. But little did he know, the real fortitude within him was beginning to come forth. He used his fire powers for the first time in years. He showed them off proudly, and he actually helped save Hera and his friends.

And then he became the leader of the building of the _Argo II_. The head counselor of Cabin 9. He finally felt important, and his true courage was beginning to show.

But then, Jason was given his memory, and he left Piper and Leo, leaving the two alone.

_So, so, alone._

But, at least they had each other as their fortitude.


End file.
